Bread products are an important food for proper nutrition. One popular bread product is known as a bagel. Bagels are commonly hard rolls which are shaped like a donut i.e. circular with a hole in the center. They are made of raised dough in a process which includes simmering in boiling water which is followed by baking. The plain bagel has a glazed browned hard exterior over a firm white interior. The plain bagel can be varied by the addition of toppings and/or fillings or by selection of special dough, such as, pumpernickel.
The manufacture of bagels is a highly skilled specialized art. Normal baking techniques are not applicable to the production of bagels. Also, the shelf life of a baked bagel is relatively short. Therefore, the availability of fresh bagels is limited.
The consumer demand for bagels over the years has increased dramatically, it has become important for supermarkets to be able to meet this demand through a supply of fresh bagels. Due to the skill needed to manufacture a bagel, the supermarkets are not able to fill this demand through its store bakeries. Many supermarkets are able to internally fulfill their entire fresh bakery needs except for bagels and croissants. The supermarkets have been required to purchase estimated quantities from local bakeries or reheat pre-baked frozen bagels.
Purchasing bagels from local bakeries has proved unsatisfactory due to the need to estimate quantities in order to avoid having too many extra stale bagels. The problem with the frozen pre-baked bagels is that once they are reheated, the bagels become extremely hard within several hours. This creates serious consumer dissatisfaction because the bagels are inedible by the time the consumer is prepared to consume the bagels. Therefore, there is a pressing need for a bagel which can be stored at a supermarket for long periods and freshly prepared as needed.
Others have recognized this problem but have been unsuccessful in producing a commercially acceptable product. Those who have attempted to solve this problem have produced bagels with an undesirable taste and/or which do not look like a proper bagel since they have a blistery exterior. Thus, leaving the problem unsolved until the present invention.
As reference the following is a typical procedure for manufacturing bakery bagels:
1. The following ingredients are put into a mixer containing a dough hook and mixed for 8-10 minutes at room temperature (60-95 degrees F.): PA0 2. When the dough has reached an extendable condition i.e. won't tear during molding since it is stretchable it is placed on a pan. PA0 3. From the pan it is either hand shaped into bagels or placed in a divider and then into a former. The divider separates the dough into bagel size portions and the former shapes the dough into the donut shape. PA0 4. The shaped dough pieces are placed on pans which have been coated with corn meal to prevent sticking. PA0 5. The dough pieces are either placed in a refrigerator (40 degrees F.) for storage or allowed to proof or rise at room temperature for 45 minutes to two hours (if refrigerated they must be brought back to room temperature before further processing). PA0 6. The dough pieces are next cooked in water at 212 degrees F. for 30 seconds to 2 minutes until they float on the surface of the water. This provides the hard shining exterior surface and cleans off the corn meal. PA0 7. The bagels are dried and then baked for 20 minutes at 380 degrees F. For appearance prior to baking they may be washed in solution containing 50% by volume raw whole eggs and 50% by volume water. These washed bagels may be coated with a topping, such as, poppy seeds.
(a) 100 lbs. of high gluten bleached malted barley flour; PA1 (b) 48 lbs. water; PA1 (c) 6 lbs. sugar or 2 lbs. malt; PA1 (d) 2 lbs. salt; PA1 (e) 41/2 lbs. vegetable oil (optional); and PA1 (f) 4 oz. to 1 lb. yeast
The commercially available frozen process is similar to the preceding. It is believed that one of the major differences is that the dough is "relaxed" between the divider and the former. It is protected from the outside air for five to ten minutes in order to allow the dough to again become extendable. It also appears to differ by not fully baking the bagel in the factory and the bagel is frozen prior to shipping. When the bagel is thawed in the supermarket the manufacturer recommends that the bagel be treated with heat and humidity prior to final baking. These bagels have a very short commercial shelf life since after 4 to 6 hours they are too difficult to chew.
The present invention advantageously provides a means of manufacturing frozen bagels which can be shipped from a central plant to distant retail outlets. An advantage of these bagels is that they can be baked at the retail outlet to obtain bagels which exhibit bakery freshness. The frozen dough has excellent shelf life characteristics and allows complete inventory and cost control. A further advantage is that they have better taste, texture and appearance as a bagel produced by traditional methods.